Henry h



(N MOdeL) H. H. THOMAS &J. WQWOODWARD.

SPRING MOTOR.

Patented May 10, 188 7.

N, PETERS. Bl -amgnhu WUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY H. THOMAS AND JOSEPH W. WOODWA RD, OF DAHLONEGA, GA.

SPRING-MOTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 362,555, dated May 10, 1887.

Application filed May 28, 1886. Serial No. 203,555. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, HENRY H. THOMAS and J osnrn W. WOODWARD, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Dahlonega, in the county of Lumpkin and State of Georgia, have invented certain new. and useful Improvements in Spring-Motors; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to motors for driving light machinery-such as sewing-machines, jewelers lathes, and other analogous small power machineryand has for its object the provision of a simple, durable, and effective spring-motor power, which shall be adapted for use upon machines already built and in use without changing them in any material degree, and be capable of being rapidly and easily wound up, while the machinery to which it is connected is not affected by the winding, and when wound up the winding means can be readily thrown out of gear and remain motionless during the operative action of the device due to the recoil of the spring.

. simple, strong, and durable parts, compactly I of the main shaft.

placed together, so as to occupy no appreciable room, and be readily placed and secured upon a machine at any point. We also provide a knee-brake to check and control the action of the spring, so as to conserve the force in it when its expenditure would not only be idle, but might tend to damage the empty running machine.

The accompanying drawings illustrate what we consider the best means for carrying our invention into practice.

Figure 1 is a central section taken in the line Fig. 2 is a face elevation. Fig. 3 is a view of the spring uncoiled, showing the different thicknesses.

' Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where they occur.

A is the drum containing the spring a, fast at one end to the case of the drum and at the other to the winding'post a The drum has ears or projections a (H, for attaching. it to the frame of the machinery to be driven. It also has a removable face or cover, A, within the face or cover, and over the spring a is mounted the gear-wheel B, loose upon the winding-post a and over said wheel B is mounted the ratchet wheel B fast upon the windingpost,

It is desirable that the wheel B, which is the drive or master wheel of the structure, should not be turned when the winding operation is in progress, and for this purpose a detent-pawl or stop-latch, b, with a thumb slide, b, for throwing it into and out of gear, is arranged at one side of wheel B. When the spring is recoiling and giving'otl the power stored in it, this detent will be withdrawn from the cogged periphery of wheel B; but in winding up the motor it will be brought into engagement again by the proper movement of the thumb-piece or slide 12. The pawl or detent bis pivoted to the drum or some other fixed part, and the slide 22 also works in such fixed part.

Power is communicated from the masterwheel B to the machineshaft 0 through the medium'of the pinion 0*, which meshes into the cogged rim of wheel B, as shown. On the same shaft',:O, is mounted the band-wheel D, which communicates motion to the working parts of a machine (not shown) by means of a band or strap or other communicating device in the ordinary manner.

A knee-brake, D is applied to the wheel D to be operated by the workman at the machine to control the speed or stop the machine at the proper moment, thus conserving the motive force of the spring and preventing accident to the mechanism.

We have devised a powerful, speedy, and

,;.reliable means for winding, which is a very desirable andimportant adjunct to the ma chine, as above described. This attachment or adjunct consists of a pinion, E, fixed to the windingpost a, outside of the face-plate A, and an interiorly-cogged circle or rim, F, which can be made to engage or disengage the pinion E, and is provided with a hand-crank, e, for giving it revolution. The eye of this rim is an elongated slot, 6, as shown, and a spring-pawl, e on an arm of rim, F, engages arack, c, on the handle 0, and holds the teeth of the rimin engagement with the pinion E and engages these parts while the handle is turned. By disengaging the pawl and rack the rim F will drop out of engagement with the spur. This disengagement can be effected by power applied by hand. Through this elongated eye the stud or center E3 projects. This part E is fixed to some stationary part, as plate A. The end of the slot in which the seat for the stud is made, is so located in the hub as to bring the rim F centrally upon said stud when seated, and at the same time cause it'to make connection with the gear E. Vhen thus placed, if the follower be pressed down, the rim will be held securely, and by turning the crank or handle a the motor will be wound up.

As soon as the motor is wound, it becomes desirable to disengage the winding device, and this is done by bringing the follower vertically over the stud E and pushing it upward by the thumb, when the rim will drop down the distance the follower has been elevated, which is made sufficient to disengage the cogged rim from wheel or pinion E, so that when in action the power of the motor will not be expended in driving the winding device. It is apparent that a great acceleration of speed in winding is attained by the use of this rim.

\Ve provide a novel spring for our motor. \Ve make the spring of different thicknesses and temper at different points in its length, preferring to make three different thicknesses and different tempers in as many sections of the spring. For instance, we provide an inchwide spring-say thirty feet in length. For

the first ten (10) feet we make the spring onesixteenth of an inch thick. For the next ten feet we make it one sixty-fourth part of an inch thicker, and for the lastteu feet we make it one one-hundred-and-twenty-eighth ipart of an inch thicker still. This increase may be continued for any length of spring; but we prefer to divide it into three sections. We temper this spring first the full length of an even temper. On the second or middle section we then add about one-third more temper, and on the last section about two-thirds more than on the first section. This extra temper and thickness occurring in the center of the spring when wound renders the power of the spring uniform throughout. It will be understood, however, that we may use the ordinary spring, if desired.

Having thus described our invention, what we desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a spring-motor, the combination of a windingpinion, winding-rim for engaging it,

and means, substantially as described, for

throwing the said rim into and out of engage- HENRY H. THOMAS. JOSEPH \V. \VOODVVARD.

\Vitnesses:

WM. J. WoRLEY, J OSEPH ALLEN. 

